Colin Kaepernick Responds to Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Comments on Anthem Protests

As Colin Kaepernick prepares for his first start of the 2016 season on Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback is also busy responding to comments made by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg about his protest of the national anthem.  

Per Elliott Almond of the San Jose Mercury News, Kaepernick expressed his disappointment with the way Ginsburg classified his protest of the anthem. 

“It is disappointing to hear a Supreme Court justice call a protest against injustices and oppression ‘stupid, dumb’ in reference to players doing that,” Kaepernick said. 

In an interview with Yahoo's Katie Couric on Tuesday, Ginsburg did not look too highly on the movement some NFL players have taken to before games that started with Kaepernick during the preseason. 

“Would I arrest them for doing it? No,” Ginsburg elaborated. “I think it’s dumb and disrespectful. I would have the same answer if you asked me about flag burning. I think it’s a terrible thing to do, but I wouldn’t lock a person up for doing it. I would point out how ridiculous it seems to me to do such an act.”

Ginsburg then went on to say it is within the NFL players' rights to do what they like, but "if they want to be stupid, there’s no law that should be preventive."

Ginsburg released a follow-up statement on Friday, per Todd Ruger of CQ Now:

As part of his reply on Wednesday, Kaepernick discussed a recent article he found talking about how some people tend to approach certain protests:

"

I was reading an article and it refers to white critique of black protests and how they try to de-legitimize it by calling it "idiotic, dumb, stupid," things of that nature, so they can sidestep the real issue. As I was reading that I saw more and more truth how this has been approached by people in power and white people in power in particular.

"

In addition to his pregame protests, Kaepernick has pledged to donate $1 million to charities that help communities in need and all of the proceeds he receives from sales of his jersey back into communities. 

Kaepernick's pregame kneel during the anthem has helped to start a conversation around various social issues plaguing the country. It has also sparked similar movements around the country at professional, college and high school sporting events.